Voices of dissonance over the absence of elected representatives have been rising from more than 9,500 village panchayats in 28 districts of Tamil Nadu. Their primary focus is on the neglect of basic amenities. Though having no elected rural local bodies is nothing new, activists and residents are worried that the gap should not be as long as the period from 2016 to 2019 when the rural local bodies, at all the three levels, all over the State had no elected presidents and chairpersons.
“Nothing is moving fast here,” says Arun, a resident of Chokkalinganagar in the Kottampatti panchayat union of Madurai district. “We are not able to meet or interact often with the panchayat secretary or any other official concerned. We are told that the officials are attending training programmes or meetings,” he says. It is not that he is unaware of the pitfalls of the system of elected representatives in rural local bodies. Yet, he feels that there is no urgency in addressing problems of the residents currently.
Motor broke down
“About a week ago, there was no water supply in my village [Sathanur], as the motor in the water system had broken down. We were clueless as to whom we should approach. It took more than four to five days for the repairs to be done. Had an elected leader been there, the people would have approached the representative to get the problem sorted out,” says V. Kannan, who lives near Thiruvidaimarudur in Thanjavur district.
“Water supply is a major problem here. I am afraid that it is only going to worsen in the coming weeks,” says Mohamed Jiyavudeen, 50, who completed his five-year-term in January this year as the president of the Seriyalur Inam panchayat in Alangudi taluk of Pudukkottai district. (His election made headlines in January 2020 because the village panchayat, dominated by Hindus, had only a handful of Muslim residents. His election showed that people had recognised the relief work he had done after Cyclone Gaja struck many parts of the Cauvery delta in November 2018).
“Invariably, people are told to meet the block development officers (BDOs), and for this, they have to travel nearly 50 km at some places. Besides, how can you expect a BDO to handle the problems of 40-45 village panchayats simultaneously,” asks Mr. Jiyavudeen.
When residents of the Sittingi village panchayat in the Harur block of Dharmapuri district realised that they had to travel 50 km to meet their BDO, they chose to repair their drinking water system out of their own resources, says a report prepared by Thannatchi, a civil society organisation specialising in issues of local bodies. It carried out a State-wide study, along with others, between January 26 and March 5 this year.
The presence of elected village panchayat leaders proved particularly useful when the residents had to update their Aadhaar details. “You can even get day-to-day issues redressed through officials. But only elected representatives can understand the requirements and aspirations of people. The development of a village panchayat is possible in a true sense only through elected local bodies,” says Vedanayaki Panchanathan, who was the chief of the C. Mutlur village panchayat in the Bhuvanagiri block of Cuddalore district.
Despite knowing that the term of office of elected representatives has come to an end, people in certain village panchayats are approaching their old presidents or representatives who had established themselves as public-spirited individuals, says the report of Thannatchi. Not many are aware of the institution of BDO and they know only about the village panchayats. The report stresses that in hilly areas, the absence of an elected system has affected people “very badly”.
‘Links severed’
R. Elango, a scientist-turned-panchayat leader who served as the chief of the Kuthambakkam village panchayat in Tiruvallur district, describes the absence of elected local bodies as a “huge vacuum” and says the people’s link with the local self-governments, which is a “constitutional right”, should not have been severed under any circumstance.
However strong the arguments by proponents of local self-government are, there are persons who find virtue in the current arrangement of running the affairs through officials. V. Ravichandran, who lives in Tiruvarur district, is satisfied with the quality of work being carried out in his area. “I have nothing to complain about. In fact, I could feel the difference now as there is much better delivery of services than earlier.”
More or less the same opinion is echoed by P. Manikandan, president of the Madurai district wetland-dryland farmers’ association. He is not oblivious to the difficulties that a BDO may have in covering all the village panchayats under his or her jurisdiction. The farmer-leader suggests that as done during the election period, the government can pool the services of officials of the Revenue and other Departments working in the rural parts to fill the gap due to the absence of elected presidents. As for responsiveness, an official of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RD&PR) Department says each BDO handles 30-35 village panchayats and one zonal deputy BDO three to five village panchayats.
“Also, there are panchayat-level officials, such as panchayat secretary, working on a time-scale basis of pay, Makkal Nala Paniyalargal, and sanitary workers,” the official says, adding that on a day-to-day basis, water supply and sanitation disposal are being monitored at all levels. Contact numbers have been assigned panchayat union-wise on WhatsApp for people to express their grievances about water supply. Last Thursday, the Tiruvallur district administration sent a circular in this regard.
A persistent problem
Some critics of elected representatives accuse the panchayat presidents of corruption in getting job cards issued under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Nandakumar Siva, vice-president of Thannatchi, says, “The problem remains regardless of the presence of elected representatives. So, it is not limited to one set of people. A bigger network, involving officials too, is operating.” Mr. Elango believes that decentralisation is the right way to curb corruption. “When you have strong, participatory and meaningful gram sabhas, the problem can even be eliminated,” he adds.
The issue of holding elections to the rural local bodies was debated last week in the Assembly when the demands for grants for the Departments of RD&PR and Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) were taken up. The government had conveyed its commitment to conduct the elections at the earliest. Initiating the debate, Minister for Rural Development I. Periyasamy referred to the ongoing “major exercise” to re-organise the urban and rural local bodies. “It will soon be followed up by appropriate delimitation of the wards at various levels under the purview of the State Election Commission. Hence, as an interim measure, special officers have been appointed for the administration of the panchayats,” he said.
In December last, the Department of MAWS issued orders with regard to the government’s intent to merge 83 village panchayats partially and 295 village panchayats fully with the adjacent urban local bodies. The remaining portions of the 83 panchayats are to be restructured and will continue to operate as distinct village panchayats. The government would take the final decision after following due procedure, Mr. Periyasamy said.
Undertaking given to court
About seven months ago, the government brought 43 village panchayats fully and three panchayats partially under four newly formed municipal corporations — Tiruvannamalai, Namakkal, Karaikudi, and Pudukkottai. A couple of months ago, it gave an undertaking to the Madras High Court that no election notification would be issued without completing delimitation and putting in place a quota of seats and offices for women, the Scheduled Castes, and the Scheduled Tribes. Apart from these factors, there has been a long-standing demand for an overhaul of the system of rural local bodies.
A look at the composition of 12,482 village panchayats under 388 panchayat unions reveals that the number of village panchayats for a union ranges from five to 73. Some of these unions have a large number of panchayats. As a result, the authorities have been encountering difficulties in the implementation of schemes, management of village panchayats, and timely fulfilment of the basic needs of the people. All this calls for bifurcation, merger, and reorganisation of the panchayat unions. Also, there are village panchayats which are unwieldy. An official of the RD&PR Department gives an example of the Nilgiris district, where some village panchayats have to take care of 160 rural habitations, against the norm of 5-10 habitations.
A panchayat leader from Coimbatore says there is a strong case for restructuring the village panchayats in parts of the western districts, where some panchayats cover both hilly areas and plains, creating practical difficulties for all the stakeholders.
Notwithstanding the government’s efforts to ease the difficulties faced by people in rural areas, activists have planned to intensify their campaign for early elections to the rural local bodies. On Sunday, Thannatchi and many other organisations will hold a day-long event to highlight the issue. It appears that the government too is conscious of the limitations of the official machinery in handling all the problems.
It should not have any issue with the position, made out by K.V. Elankeeran, a farmer leader from Kattumannarkoil in Cuddalore district, and A. Nethaji, former president of the Puliyanthurai village panchayat in the Kollidam block of Mayiladuthurai district, that the best way to govern the village panchayats is through the people themselves.
Published – March 30, 2025 12:40 am IST